


A Matter of Trust, Ch5-Pt1

by Dressari



Series: Distant Worlds [13]
Category: Creators Keepers of Mana, Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures, Furry (Fandom)
Genre: CKoM, DMFA - Freeform, Elements, Furrae, Mana - Freeform, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-06 03:08:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11591667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dressari/pseuds/Dressari
Summary: The dust settles down and things return to normal at the Academy. Fa'Lina meets this mysterious traveler as mentioned by Abel and Dan during their earlier visit, and find something... surprising.The Baron however, eager to move his plans along introduces Callis to the very thing that may be the very heart of his power over the deadly Hollows.





	A Matter of Trust, Ch5-Pt1

\- 5 -

Callis cautiously walked the stone halls of the tower's very central level, it was rare for her to come this level specifically; usually the Baron requested that she remained on the surrounding floors. It was not so much as taken as a request, but an order, she trusted the Baron fully and had no reason to snoop around or even question his tasks and requests. Though he seemed a little distant the last few hours. Conversation was scarce, and her tasks had been very few indeed.

Ever since that one Being came to light, things had changed somewhat.

The Baron was more thoughtful than ever, and areas of their plan accelerated unexpectedly.

She had never known him to exhibit or show fear, but something told her this Adrian fellow had become the proverbial wrench in the cogs they had laid in their plan.

The air in the halls grew colder, dropping from a mild chill into an almost frosty bite. Few doors decorated the halls, many of them were locked, others had been barred shut permanently. When Callis had been asked to meet the Baron down here, he never elaborated on which room she was expected to show up at and feared she had kept him waiting from getting lost.

Turning one of the corners she stopped as did her breath for just a moment. A singular archway lined the wall halfway down the corridor. An icy mist gently swayed from the archway entrance as she slowly approached and peered into the next room.

“Baron, sir?” she called out, her voice echoed off of the icy stone walls.

The Baron stood at the far end of the chamber between two stone pillars, before him was... something, but Callis was unsure of what from this angle. What she did notice however were licks of black-blue energy that flicked off occasionally into the air and dispersed. The sight of it caused shivers along her very soul, just what was it she witnessed?

“Callis...” greeted the Baron with a rough drawl.

His voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, “S-Sir, where... where is this place?” she asked almost choking on her words. For the first time in a long time she felt fear in the form of something other than in dreams.

The Baron turned from the energy to face his most dedicated assistant, her eyes bore the look of concern, as was expected. “This, is but a place of storage, nothing more, nothing less.” he replied. He took a slow step towards her and fanned out towards he area before them, “Your question should not be where, my dear, but what is here. Come see.”

Hesitantly Callis took a steep forward and was directed carefully towards the source of the dark energy, the Baron stepping to the side. Before the wolf was something unimaginable. A dark grey sphere of such unusual design floated chest high, it featured a number of indentations highlighted by a deep blue energy. There was no pattern to the energy lines other than they were many and spanned over the entire orb. Energy pulsed from its surface, jumping out into the air, sometimes looping on itself.

Callis fumbled and fidgeted with her hands in a circular motion, “Why... do I feel like I am staring into an abyss.” she quietly remarked unable to shake her gaze from the orb.

“Touch it.”

Callis gasped, “T-Touch it?” she asked exasperated, her hands freezing in place from their fumble.

“It will give you command, temporarily, over Hollows. You will need them for the task I will ask of you next.” explained the Baron approaching the orb himself and ran the tips of his fingers along the surface of the orb. The licks of energy encased his hand as if magnetised to his being.

The Hollows? Callis's heart drew a long beat as she considered reaching out and touching the strange object. “I... Baron, s-sir. I have trusted you from the beginning, I have no reason to doubt you, but... may I please have some explanation first.” she asked rounding the orb to one side but remained a fair distance from it. She swallowed hard before bravely adding, “I feel this is something beyond my comprehension... beyond something I should even be in the presence of.”

The Baron chuckled, how right she might have been, but understanding was a matter of a lack of education and no one was beyond learning. It was only natural she wanted to know more about the power she was going to be granted, “This is an artifact, tied to the very forces of energy that keep this world alive. It is not constructed like many of the Elementium Vass pieces I have shown you in the past. This-” he explained circling around the back while maintaining a hand on top of the orb “-was formed naturally.”

“How can something so dark and haunting be considered natural?”

“Darkness is no less natural than the light or the very nature of the trees and plants you see.” replied the Baron and stood next to Callis. He placed a hand on her shoulder, sensing the tension the Artifact brought on. “The conception that Dark is evil, and that Light is good, are merely labels we incorrectly apply to justify our actions or judgements. Everyone is capable of both, regardless of how pious or malevolent we become.”

“But... you consider the Cubi to be evil, you have said so in the past?” questioned Callis, a tug on her arm as she found herself slowly drawn to the dark orb with a shuffle. “Are you saying you never believed that now?”

“No, I am merely saying that the element of Darkness should be embraced as much as we revere the Light. Together they form a symbolic relationship of balance.” he replied, smiling under the mask, growing more pleased that his closest aide grew closer. “You know the Hollows are mere fragments of those who choose to follow darker emotions, they are lost without guidance, this... allows us to guide them. This is not the first artifact of its kind, there was one before this too.”

“What happened to it?”

“Destroyed, recklessly, without consideration of the balance it brought.” said the Baron, reaching under his hood briefly with a despairing motion in his arm. “Without control, the Hollows grow feral and unpredictable, this lets them turn it against our enemies.”

Callis had encountered the Hollows in the past, times when the Baron interacted with one or when they slipped through the halls, but she had no idea they could be controlled directly. She felt uneasy around them when they drew too close. From what he had told her about them, they were Creatures lost in the void of their darkest emotions, who gave up everything when they lost all faith in everything around them. Including themselves. It was a truly frightening idea.

“What do you ask of me, Baron?” asked the Wolf, reaching out slowly to the orb with a shake.

“A mission of retrieval, but you will need help...”

The Baron felt a sense of glee, he did his best to hold back visually as the wolf's fingertips touched the orb, a sure sign of his confidence in her that she could trust her with any task, and succeed. This would be her greatest challenge yet.

 

⁂

Fa'Lina's finger pushed on a set of magical orbs making up an ornament at her desk. They spun around wildly, forming several shapes and patterns; depending on the orb you prodded determined the kind of pattern it made. A gift from a prior student whom specialised in light based magic. Patiently she waited, the sounds of clicking and tapping filled the room amidst the silence between herself, Aaryanna, Lilliandra, Seme and her new guest.

Adrian, as was his name they came to learn, had spent a moment of time manipulating the underside of his helmet. Though Fa'Lina was unsure of what it was he was trying to accomplish in this time, he answered the occasional question that was directed to him, though it seemed more prudent to wait for him to finish his task.

Lilliandra observed with a tilt of her head, standing the closest to him. She was intrigued by the symbol on his chest, and unnerved by it too. She noticed even Fa'Lina appeared to stare at it with a deathly glare, it made the feel room tense. The strong emotions this one produced were vast and made it difficult to truly determine what it was he was feeling at the time. A mixture, but strong senses of complacency were very apparent. Did he feel... comfortable around creatures that may still deem him dangerous?

For now the headmistress had been lenient enough to let him remain after the earlier ordeal, more or less to gain some answers no doubt. At least the uneasy feelings that had clouded the Academy were long gone thanks to the destruction of those Hollows, as Adrian had called them. Strangely, even Fa'Lina refereed to these things by the same name...

“...Are you, alright there?” asked the ferret finally wondering what was wrong, “Can we... help?”

“No, I got it, thank you.” declined Adrian, finally releasing the locks to his helmet with a snap. He pushed it off with a winded breath glad to be free of it. Examining the front there was a decent crack in the glass and visor where it had been damaged, it likely severed the locking mechanisms thus the need for a manual release. “Got to hand it to you Fa'Lina, got a heck of a jab there in that arm of yours.” he complimented.

He started to feel eyes were all drawn on him, staring, all with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Except for the pinkish-red leopard, for some reason, Seme was smiling at him almost with a welcoming beam. Adrian darted his eyes between the other three, “What... never seen a human before?” he asked.

“Human?” blurted Aaryanna with a cocked eyebrow, “You can't be a human, they don't exist, you must be a Were.”

Adrian rolled his eyes around, “Dammit, she was right too, I am not a Were I can assure you,” he sighed and dropped the helmet onto the desk and turned it to face the headmistress, “How's your ring finger?” he asked her with a point.

Fa'Lina blinked, truthfully it hurt like hell, even though she cracked the helmet with her fist her hand however did not suffer without injury. It was a minor fracture and it made it difficult to move it at wide angles, even now the slightest shift was inconvenient. “Very observant, it seems you are more perceptive than you look,” she said with a light smile and placed her uninjured hand over the injured one. A small pulse of white energy erupted and circled around it briefly, she then stretched her hands out a few times revealing the injury was no longer present.

“So just WHO are you anyway?” interrogated Aaryanna, arms crossed as she shot an aggressive glare at what she still considered to be an invader. The Warp-aci that followed him floated around aimlessly, it wasn't even attached to him so how did he convince it to bring him here? Better ye,t how did he get past the wards. “No one gets into the School easily, much less without being invited.”

“Yeah I hear membership is VERY exclusive,” jested Adrian with a smidgen of sarcasm.

“Don't get smart,” chided the purpled haired Cubi prodding at his nose with a finger.

“Aaryanna, down,” commanded Fa'Lina gently. She couldn't fault her for being protective still, there was a lot of uncertainty left to explain. Part of the fault may have rested with herself, “Admittedly, I may have been distracted by the Hollows during one of Adrian's attempts to enter with... Teacup? Was it?”

“Yes ma'am.” replied the warp-aci drearily, its limbs and tail hung down depressively.

“But I believe there was more to it than a simple teleport, there was... something else transfused into the attempt, am I not correct, Mr Adrian?” questioned Fa'Lina with a tap of her finger on the table.

The man briefly hesitated, “I... may have attempted to open a realm portal myself during one of Teacup's attempts, yeah...” he admitted, scratching the back of his head, “Since I didn't know which realm it was on, I thought I could use Teacup's knowledge with my powers and... kinda... force my way in.”

“Only someone who would desire blood on their hands would force their way into a school of kids, you are either incredibly brash or just plainly stupid.” berated Aaryanna with the harshest growl she ever brought to bear, she had to refrain from shaping her wings and sending Adrian across the room just to knock some of the stupid out of him. “Either that or you were desperate to get killed,”

“Or, he had a genuine reason to get in contact with Fa'Lina urgently,” said a casual Seme from across the room. She sat calmly, cross-legged and with a teacup suspended by the tip of her tendril. A soothing drink to accommodate the intrigue this otherwise boring day was starting to develop. “After all, not everyone is capable of contacting the Academy through normal means, Adrian, did you summon that Warp-Aci? I bet you didn't.”

“No, I did not, a friend did it for me.”

“And whom might that friend be?”

“Miss Fa'Lina, the box that is to the left of your hand there, please touch it and think of a feather.” explained Adrian motioning at the box in question. Fa'Lina immediately did so without pause, after a second or two a pulse of light jumped from the white glow of the PSU to and to her palm, the light took shape of the feather he had been handed earlier in the day and eventually materialised into the item as such. “My friend said this would, give you 'pause' as it were, it might have avoided our fight if I was given the chance to show it sooner,” He said.

Fa'Lina brought the bright blue feather up to her eye level, the bottom of her lip dropped a little as even this had taken her by surprise. It was a piece of the Academy she thought never to be seen inside the walls again, her surprise then turned to a smirk, before she broke into a disbelief chortle. She ran a hand against the brow of her head, starting to feel the onset of a light head pain coming on.

“That... isn't what I think it is, is it?” asked a clearly shocked Lilliandra almost reaching for the feather, wanting to find out of it was physically real it just a figment of her imagination. She then felt a shiver rush down her spine as she gripped herself in her own hands, “Y-You've had contact with her!?”

Aaryanna's attitude suddenly changed however beaming a smile to Adrian, “You've met Destania? Really!? Is she okay- is she well- where is she?” quickly asked the excited Cubi. Although Adrian merely took a step back clearly put off by the sudden emotional change she presented.

“Are you kidding!? Who cares? He's had contact with her, that's a problem in its own right!” blasted Lilliandra in a fit of panic and half induced anger, she threw a finger out behind her pointing to Adrian. “If he's friends with her, if you can even call it that, then he's no more trustworthy than Hizel himself!”

“Back off!” shouted Aaryanna growing cross, “Don't you ever compare any Cubi to Hizel again, that was low even for you Lilli! Just because your sis-”

“Enough!” bellowed Fa'Lina over the top of them, slamming her hand down on the table causing not only the furniture to rattle but some of the room too. The two arguing cubi shirked quickly back into silence, their attention drawn to their boss as she demanded it, “Lilliandra, I suggest you go check on Lucia and let this slide for now. Aaraynna, please take a seat next to Seme and allow me to ask the questions.” she told them both with a stern glare.

Lilliandra tried to protest, “B... But-” a scrape sounded across table surface sending a very strong message, her ears drooped to the sides and looked to the ground dejectedly “...Yes, headmistress.” she groaned and departed from the room with a drag in her step.

Meanwhile Aaryanna did as was told and seated herself next to the leopard still enjoying her beverage, although Seme's smile had faded too. The younger cubi folded her arms and let out a long sigh, feeling foolish all of a sudden.

“I didn't mean to cause trouble, ma'am.” apologised Adrian fidgeting with his fingers anxiously.

“Teacup, whom was your most recent summoner?”

“Destania of clan Cyra, ma'am.” answered the critter.

“Are you certain? You are no longer tied to her.”

“She disconnected our link shortly after summoning, said she had no need for me.”

Adrian cleared his throat, “You know, um, for the record. She told me her name was Desiree.”

And that sounded distinctly like something she would do indeed, there was no lie behind the critters word, not even a stutter. How unusual was it for Destania to even consider summoning a potential liability of her identity. This only added to the growing concern Fa'Lina held about Cyra's last daughter.

Fa'Lina let out a short sigh and brushed some of her hair from her vision, “This feather only complicates things, I am afraid it means little to prove anything, Adrian. Other than you have in fact had contact with... a very controversial topic at the Academy.” she explained.

“Controversial?”

“The fact she did not even tell you of her true name, speaks leagues of how she views you.”

“She doesn't trust me, I get that much and I'm sure she has a reason for it. I'm trying to earn it.”

“Then you face an uphill battle against all odds,” stated Fa'Lina bluntly, “Though I sense your emotions are highly determined to prove the impossible can be achieved.” The poodle Cubi then narrowed her eyes some and placed a hand under her chin. “Tell me, Adrian Kino, why did you seek my council. Destania is not the sort of Cubi to help anyone without a good reason, unless it benefited her.”

Adrian gently tapped a finger against one of the PSU's, with a short swipe he recalled the book that presented more questions than answers for the last day or so. Carefully he placed it before her, and then explained the events that let up to this moment, starting with his release, time spent with Destania although he did not mention her location, the attack at the Inn and his encounter with the Red Baron claiming to be Bereliro and then finally making his way to the Academy.

During the entire story, Fa'Lina sat and listened with a solemn look, the feather twirled between her finger and thumb, back and forth, back and forth with a gentle flourish. All the while she heard the whispers of his mind reach out to her, speak and show the gaps that images could fill in where descriptions could not. And so much more, perhaps beyond her imagination of a world long before Furrae's time.

Seeing more than just thoughts without a direct connection should have been an impossibility. Fa'Lina wondered, could Seme and Aaryanna also garner these memories? Judging by their expressions from a sideways glances, no was the answer. Hesitant to question it right now, she pushed it to an afterthought for another time. Placing the feather on the nearby book pages she drew a short breath and quietly said to herself, “Brelioro, has your mind cracked so much you can no longer tell the difference between realities...”

Adrian had taken a seat in one of the guest chairs at her desk, a strange tool in hand. Sparks leapt from the front of the helmet as he repaired the crack. Teacup floated aimlessly above him, tapping her tiny arms together anxiously.

“I am... unfortunately, very acquainted with Brelioro, or otherwise the Red Baron, Adrian.” said Fa'Lina drearily, leaning one arm against her comfy chair. Her eyes darted to the bird emblem upon the man's chest, a painful arrow shot into her nerves, one that instigated the very betrayal that destroyed everything she held dear. Why, oh why, did this man wear this badge that clearly had nothing to do with Brelioro to begin with. At least not now.

“It bugs me that he knows me, but, I have next to nothing on him or why he knows me.” said Adrian, he reached up and tugged the distressed Warp-Aci from out of the air and pulled the critter in to his lap. “The only link is he appeared to know my-.”

“Father,” interjected Fa'Lina with a raise of her eyebrows, “Adrian, you are the one with the ability to sense and establish identities through Aura's, are you not certain the same Baron is not your father?”

Adrian shook his head rapidly, “The Aura's do not match, and before you ask, they do not change either. The same aura is with us until the day we die. I would recognise my own father's Aura at a glance.” Finished with his repairs he placed the helmet to the side and sat it on the desk. His hands turned to comforting the abandoned warp-aci.

Of that Fa'Lina was no doubt certain, she was able to gauge enough information from his memories that was indeed the case. Such a curious presence these Creators hold, a powerful force of nature, unlike the magical natures of other creatures. A glimpse of just their capabilities showed the headmistress enough of the forces they could truly bring to bear, their own skirmish was simply the tip of an iceberg. But of course in the face of dignity, she wasn't about to admit that she couldn't hold her own, Adrian's own compliments even agreed.

Fa'Lina winced with a long hard blink when Adrian asked a question she expected sooner or later.

“So, why does this Baron have such a grudge against your clan anyway?” he asked her.

A thick air of tense silence suffocated the room. Opening her eyes again Fa'Lina uttered a request, “Aaryanna, Seme... I would request some... privacy if you would be so kind.” she said.

Without argument, Seme stood from her seat and proceeded to leave the office room, however Aaryanna appeared more reluctant, tapping her fingers together in concern for her boss's unusual behaviour. A long stare from the golden eyes suggested this was more than just a polite request. With a slow swallow the purpled haired Succubus made her way out after Seme, closing the door to the office with a quiet click.

Silence again fell on the room, Fa'Lina cast her gaze at Adrian from the side as she rested upon her arm. This was not a tale she wanted to elaborate on, let alone having experienced it. Truth be told, Brelioro was only a small part of the problem. But his actions lead to a very significant amount of pain, “He was the one who convinced an someone whom I had once called friend... to do what I believed was the unthinkable. It is a wound I shall never recover from.  _-sigh-_ Tell me Adrian, I know Alexsi gave you a loose idea on how Cubi Clans function, YOU can determine parental and family lineages through your Aura sense. Can you sense anyone at the Academy related to me?”

 


End file.
